START TURN…Eoin McHugh has been superb for Donegal

DONEGAL are flying high at the summit of division One and if I’m totally honest, I didn’t expect them to have made such an explosive start to the season.

They have introduced a few fresh faces to the panel which I will get to later, but by and large the troops that will be handed the task of taking Donegal back to the dizzy heights they reached in recent years will be the older guard.

It’s no secret that these lads although not that old in terms of number, do have a lot of miles on the clock and proper management of this is key to success later this summer.

At the start of the year Rory Gallagher had a few decisions to make and the biggest one was how to approach the year ahead, bearing in mind he wants his lads peaking at the right time. Rory would have also known that he had to bolster his squad and credit to him he has done just that.

Bringing young players like Micheal Carroll, Ciaran Thompson and Eoin McHugh into the team has injected some much-needed life into their attack. These young guys have been a breath of fresh air and by now a few of them must surely be seen as necessities come Championship selection.

Given the competitive nature of Division One, all teams had to have their wits about them early on or they would be in the same kind of trouble as the likes of Mayo, Down and Cork who now face a real battle to stay in the division.

Word on the street is that Rory’s plan was to be in real good shape early on and gather enough points to keep them up so that they could take the foot off the pedal for a few weeks before lifting it again for the summer. This approach seems sensible in theory but in reality it’s harder to implement.

I mentioned earlier the fear was that the older players had a lot of miles on the clock so personally if I was in that group I would be looking to build steadily over the winter and spring before giving it one hell of a lash for the summer knowing that this is probably my last throw of the dice.

The young lads I mentioned earlier are going to become so important to this group over the next few months. Players like Colm McFadden, Karl Lacy and Christy Toye have been given an extended break and I would say that Rory’s plan was to ride out the first few outings and then these guys would boost morale when reintroduced, but I think we all were surprised by the impact the young lads have made.

For example it’s hard to see how the likes of Karl can improve the half-back line when you look at the form the two McHughs and Frank McGlynn are in. A few of the older guard may have to be content with an impact role this summer, which would strengthen Rory’s hand to no end.

Bearing all that in mind the Donegal camp is in a very positive place moving forward, the tests will stiffen over the next three or four weeks with trips to Kerry and Dublin on the horizon but, for me, games like those are exactly what the new lads need to battle harden them for Championship.

At the start of the year I felt that an Ulster title was the best that they could hope for this year, I just felt that when it comes down to the real deal of Championship that they may lack that bit of freshness and explosiveness to compete for Sam.

With the way they have started the season coupled with the few new faces on the team, I am a little more optimistic about the summer being a long one.

Like all teams they have to keep their key players injury free and if they can do so and place total faith in their youngsters leaving a few of the older heads on the bench to introduce late on in games then they might just climb to the top of the pecking order.

On another notes, is there a single player in Ireland who is more important to his team than Conor McManus is to Monaghan right now? If there is I would like to meet him.

The performance Conor delivered last Saturday night was simply majestic and for any young forward looking to learn your trade you should watch it again as it was textbook forward play, clever runs, both feet, score-taking under severe pressure he had it all.

Like Donegal, Conor and Monaghan will face stiffer tests in the coming weeks when teams may not afford so much room like Dublin did however you can only play what’s in front of you and at the minute he’s scoring ten out of ten most days out.
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